Publications - microplastics@whoi

Publications - microplastics@whoi
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Publications
2026
Rocklöv J, Dunlop S, Chiles TC, Fuller L, Geyer R, Johnson MM, Karasik R, Muncke J, Raps H, Rauert C, Rhodes MG, Spring M, Stegeman J, Symeonides C, Thomas KV, Treskova M, Velis CA, Wagner M, Landrigan PJ (2026) Plastics, plastic chemicals, and microplastics: multiple harms to health.
The Lancet
Utami DA, Reuning L, Schwark L, Nelson RK, James BD, Swarthout RF, Buhler D, Zanardi-Lamardo E, Reddy CM (2026) Plastitar and pyroplastics as emerging vectors of coastal pollution: Chemical identification from Panjang Island (Java Sea) and Palm Beach, Florida.
Marine Pollution Bulletin
228:
119603
Bryan D. James, Luis E. A. Bezerra, Diane Buhler, Rivelino M. Cavalcante, Martha L. Aguilera, Bing Chen, Jonas Gros, Ulrich M. Hanke, Karin L. Lemkau, Robert K. Nelson, Sydney F. Niles, André H. B. de Oliveira, Thomas D. Pitchford, Jagoš R. Radović, Ryan P. Rodgers, Marcelo O. Soares, Scott A. Socolofsky, Roger E. Summons, Robert F. Swarthout, Carlos E. P. Teixeira, David L. Valentine, Helen K. White, Min Yang, Eliete Zanardi-Lamardo, Baiyu Zhang, and Christopher M. Reddy (2026) Long-Range Transport of Oil by Marine Plastic Debris: Evidence from an 8500 km Journey.
Environmental Science & Technology
60:
2649−2661
2025
Larry J. Pratt
Irina I. Rypina; (2025) A theory for attractors of microplastic particles in the resonant structures of a 3D eddy.
Chaos
1 December 2025; 35 (12):
123124
Sun Y, James BD, Houston KR, Edwards B, Izallalen M, Mazumder S, Shankar R, Reddy CM, Ward CP (2025) Temperature Controls the Lifetimes and Microbial Communities Degrading Cellulose Diacetate in the Coastal Ocean.
Environmental Science & Technology
59:
19468-19478
James BD, Reddy CM (2025) Container Overboard in the Port of New Orleans, LA, USA. Chapter 21 In Coastal and Marine Pollution (eds M. Vithanage, S.M. Samarasekara, B.D. James and C.M. Reddy). pp.
403-424
Landrigan PJ, Dunlop S, Treskova M, Raps H, Symeonides C, Muncke J, Spring M, Stegeman J, Almroth BC, Chiles TC, Cropper M, Deeney M, Fuller L, Geyer R, Karasik R, Mafira T, Mangwiro A, Matias DM, Mulders Y, Park Y, Velis CA, Vermeulen R, Wagner M, Wang Z, Whitman EM, Woodruff TJ, Rocklöv J (2025) The Lancet Countdown on health and plastics.
Lancet
406:
1044-1062
James BD, Sun Y, Pate K, Irving B, Ward CP (2025) Strategies for Designing Circular, Sustainable, and Nonpersistent Consumer Plastic Products: A Case Study of Drinking Straws.
Environmental Science & Technology
59:
18177-18189
Ward CP, Reddy CM, James BD (2025) Initial estimates of the lifetime of unsmoked cellulose diacetate and paper cigarette filters in the coastal ocean.
Environmental Science: Advances
4:
1014-1023
Walsh AN, Dunlea AG, Reddy CM, Ward CP (2025) Characterization of Inorganic Additives in and Photochemically Liberated from Consumer Plastics: Implications for Global and Local Biogeochemical Cycles.
ACS Environmental Au
, 3
, 298–307
James BD, Medvedev AV, Medvedeva LA, Martsen E, Gorman KL, Lin B, Makarov SS, Aluwihare LI, Vos Ad, Reddy CM, Hahn ME (2025) Burnt plastic (pyroplastic) from the M/V X-Press Pearl ship fire and plastic spill contain compounds that activate endocrine and metabolism-related human and fish transcription factors.
Environment and Health (ACS)
3:
91-101
2024
Pitt JA, Gallager SM, Youngs S, Michel APM, Hahn ME, Aluru N (2024) The abundance and localization of environmental microplastics in gastrointestinal tract and muscle of Atlantic killifish (
Fundulus heteroclitus
): A pilot study.
Microplastics and Nanoplastics
4:
23
James BD, Sun Y, Pate K, Shankar R, Izallalen M, Mazumder S, Perri ST, Houston KR, Edwards B, de Wit J, Reddy CM, Ward CP (2024) Foaming Enables Material-Efficient Bioplastic Products with Minimal Persistence.
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
12:
16030-16040
Muñoz-Pérez JP, Lewbart GA, Toapanta T, Chadwick H, Okoffo ED, Alarcón-Ruales D, Zurita-Arthos L, Jones JS, Cisneros F, Moreira-Mendieta A, Vintimilla-Palacios C, Miranda C, Vallejo F, Houck E, Alemán R, Escobar-Flores K, Skehel A, Castañeda J, Secoura P, Vaden S, Lewis C, Galloway T, Wallace B, Godley BJ, Cole M, Lindeque P, Thomas KV, Potvin DA, Valle CA, Townsend KA (2024) Plastic pollution and health metrics in wild juvenile green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) from two Ecuadorian national parks: Galápagos and Machalilla.
Frontiers in Amphibian and Reptile Science
Law KL, Sobkowicz MJ, Shaver MP, Hahn ME (2024) Untangling the chemical complexity of plastics to improve life cycle outcomes.
Nature Reviews Materials
9:
657-667
James BD, Medvedev AV, Makarov SS, Nelson RK, Reddy CM, Hahn ME (2024) Moldable plastics (polycaprolactone) can be acutely toxic to developing zebrafish and activate nuclear receptors in mammalian cells.
ACS Biomaterial Science & Engineering
10:
5237−5251
Aanesen M, Ahi JC, Abate TG, Khan FR, de Vries FP, Kite-Powell H, Beaumont NJ (2024) Insights from international environmental legislation and protocols for the global plastic treaty.
Scientific Reports
14:
2750
James BD, Sun Y, Izallalen M, Mazumder S, Perri ST, Edwards B, de Wit J, Reddy CM, Ward CP (2024) Strategies to Reduce the Environmental Lifetimes of Drinking Straws in the Coastal Ocean.
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
12:
2404-2411
Ward CP, Reddy CM, Edwards B, Perri ST (2024) To curb plastic pollution, industry and academia must unite.
Nature
625:
658-662
Rypina II, Pratt LJ, Dotzel M (2024) Aggregation of slightly buoyant microplastics in 3D vortex flows.
Nonlin Processes Geophys
31:
25-44
Pitt JA, Hahn ME, Aluru N (2024) Implications of Exposure Route for the Bioaccumulation Potential of Nanopolystyrene Particles.
Chemosphere
351:
141133
James BD, Ward CP, Hahn ME, Thorpe SJ, Reddy CM (2024) Minimizing the environmental impacts of plastic pollution through eco-design of products with low environmental persistence.
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
12:
1185–1194
Pitt JA, Aluru N, Hahn ME (2024) Microplastics in Marine Food Webs. In: Shumway SE, Ward E, editors. Plastics in the Sea: Occurrence and Impacts. (in press) (
Pitt_Aluru_Hahn_FoodWebs_2024b
2023
Sun Y, Mazzotta MG, Miller CA, Apprill A, Izallalen M, Mazumder S, Perri ST, Edwards B, Reddy CM, Ward CP (2023) Distinct microbial communities degrade cellulose diacetate bioplastics in the coastal ocean.
Appl Environ Microbiol
e0165123
James BD, Reddy CM, Hahn ME, Nelson RK, de Vos A, Aluwihare LI, Wade TL, Knap AH, Bera G (2023) Fire and Oil Led to Complex Mixtures of PAHs on Burnt and Unburnt Plastic during the M/V X-Press Pearl Disaster.
ACS Environmental Au
, 5
, 319–335
Nelson, TF and Ward CP (2023) Diffusion-Ordered Spectroscopy for Rapid and Facile Determination of Consumer Plastic Molecular Weight.
Anal. Chem.
2023
, 95
, 22
, 8560–8568
James BD, Karchner SI, Walsh AN, Aluru N, Franks DG, Sullivan KR, Reddy CM, Ward CP, Hahn ME (2023) Formulation Controls the Potential Neuromuscular Toxicity of Polyethylene Photoproducts in Developing Zebrafish.
Environ Sci Technol
57
, 21
, 7966–7977.
Landrigan PJ, Raps H, Cropper M, Bald C, Brunner M, Canonizado EM, Charles D, Chiles TC, Donohue MJ, Enck J, Fenichel P, Fleming LE, Ferrier-Pages C, Fordham R, Gozt A, Griffin C, Hahn ME, Haryanto B, Hixson R, Ianelli H, James BD, Kumar P, Laborde A, Law KL, Martin K, Mu J, Mulders Y, Mustapha A, Niu J, Pahl S, Park Y, Pedrotti M-L, Pitt JA, Ruchirawat M, Seewoo BJ, Spring M, Stegeman JJ, Suk W, Symeonides C, Takada H, Thompson RC, Vicini A, Wang Z, Whitman E, Wirth D, Wolff M, Yousuf AK, Dunlop S. The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health.
Annals of Global Health
2023;
89:
1–215
.  (
WHOI News Release
Bourzac K (2023) Grappling with the biggest marine plastic spill in history.
Chemical & Engineering News
101:
25-31
. (Not a WHOI author, but WHOI scientists are featured.)
2022
Jiang H, Pechenik JA (2022) Hydrodynamic role of substrate attachment in shaping the suspension-feeding current created by the marine gastropod Crepidula fornicata.
Invertebrate Biology
141:
e12383
Walsh AN, Mazzotta MG, Nelson TF, Reddy CM, Ward CP (2022) Synergy between Sunlight, Titanium Dioxide, and Microbes Enhances Cellulose Diacetate Degradation in the Ocean.
Environmental Science & Technology
56:
13810−13819.
Leistenschneider C, Le Bohec C, Eisen O, Houstin A, Neff S, Primpke S, Zitterbart DP, Burkhardt-Holm P, Gerdts G (2022) No evidence of microplastic ingestion in emperor penguin chicks (Aptenodytes forsteri) from the Atka Bay colony (Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica).
Sci Total Environ
851:
158314
Landrigan PJ, Raps H, Symeonides C, Chiles T, Cropper M, Enck J, Hahn ME, Kumar P, Mustapha A, Park Y, Spring M, Stegeman J, Thompson R, Wang Z, Wolff M, Yousuf A, Dunlop S (2022) Announcing the Minderoo – Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health.
Annals of Global Health
88(1):
73, 1–9
James BD, de Vos A, Aluwihare L, Youngs S, Ward CP, Nelson RK, Michel APM, Hahn ME, Reddy CM (2022) Divergent Forms of Pyroplastic: Lessons Learned from the M/V X-Press Pearl Ship Fire.
ACS Environmental Au
2 (5):
467–479.
James BD, Hahn ME, Reddy CM (2022) Biomaterials Science Can Offer a Valuable Second Opinion on Nature's Plastic Malady.
Environ Sci Technol
56(3):
1475-1477
Mazzotta MG, Reddy CM, Ward CP (2022) Rapid Degradation of Cellulose Diacetate by Marine Microbes.
Environmental Science & Technology Letters
9:
37-41.
de Vos A, Aluwihare L, Youngs S, DiBenedetto MH, Ward CP, Michel APM, Colson BC, Mazzotta MG, Walsh AN, Nelson RK, Reddy CM, James BD (2022) The M/V X-Press Pearl Nurdle Spill: Contamination of Burnt Plastic and Unburnt Nurdles along Sri Lanka’s Beaches.
ACS Environmental Au
2(
2):
128–135
.  (
Press release
2021
Blevins MG, Allen HL, Colson BC, Cook AM, Greenbaum AZ, Hemami SS, Hollmann J, Kim E, LaRocca AA, Markoski KA, Miraglia P, Mott VL, Robberson WM, Santos JA, Sprachman MM, Swierk P, Tate S, Witinski MF, Kratchman LB, Michel APM (2021) Field-Portable Microplastic Sensing in Aqueous Environments: A Perspective on Emerging Techniques.
Sensors
(Basel)
21
(10): 3532.
Amaral-Zettler LA, Zettler ER, Mincer TJ, Klaassen MA, Gallager SM (2021) Biofouling impacts on polyethylene density and sinking in coastal waters: A macro/micro tipping point?
Water Res
201:
117289
Belden ER, Kazantzis NK, Reddy CM, Kite-Powell H, Timko MT, Italiani E, Herschbach DR (2021) Thermodynamic feasibility of shipboard conversion of marine plastics to blue diesel for self-powered ocean cleanup.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
118
Walsh AN, Reddy CM, Niles SF, McKenna AM, Hansel CM, Ward CP (2021) Plastic Formulation is an Emerging Control of Its Photochemical Fate in the Ocean.
Environmental Science & Technology
55:
12383-12392.
See WHOI
News Release
Nelson TF, Reddy CM, Ward CP (2021) Product Formulation Controls the Impact of Biofouling on Consumer Plastic Photochemical Fate in the Ocean.
Environ Sci Technol
55:
8898-8907.
Colson, BC and Michel, APM (2021) Flow-through quantification of microplastics using impedance spectroscopy.
ACS Sensors
6:
238–244.
Farrington JW (2021) Reflections about three influential Ambio articles impacting environmental biogeochemistry research and knowledge.
Ambio
50:
539-543
2020
Ward CP, Reddy CM (2020) Opinion: We need better data about the environmental persistence of plastic goods.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
117:
14618-14621.
How Long Does Plastic Persist in the Ocean?
(WHOI Insight piece)
Michel APM, Morrison AE, Colson BC, Pardis WA, Moya XA, Harb CC, White HK (2020) Quantum cascade laser-based reflectance spectroscopy: a robust approach for the classification of plastic type.
Optics Express
28:
17741-17756.
Michel APM, Morrison AE, Preston VL, Marx CT, Colson BC, White HK (2020) Rapid Identification of Marine Plastic Debris via Spectroscopic Techniques and Machine Learning Classifiers.
Environmental Science and Technology
54: 10630–10637
Landrigan PJ,
Stegeman JJ
, Fleming LE, Allemand D,
Anderson DM
, Backer LC, Brucker-Davis F, Chevalier N, Corra L, Czerucka D, Bottein M-YD, Demeneix B, Depledge M, Deheyn DD, Dorman CJ, Fénichel P, Fisher S, Gaill F, Galgani F, Gaze WH, Giuliano L, Grandjean P,
Hahn ME
, Hamdoun A, Hess P, Judson B, Laborde A, McGlade J, Mu J, Mustapha A, Neira M, Noble RT, Pedrotti ML,
Reddy C
, Rocklöv J, Scharler UM, Shanmugam H, Taghian G, van de Water JAJM, Vezzulli L, Weihe P, Zeka A, Raps H, Rampal P. Human Health and Ocean Pollution.
Annals of Global Health
. 2020;
86(1):
151, 1–64.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.2831
2019
Ward CP, Armstrong CJ, Walsh AN, Jackson JH, Reddy CM (2019)
Sunlight Converts Polystyrene to Carbon Dioxide and Dissolved Organic Carbon
Environmental Science & Technology Letters
6:
669-674.
Sunlight degrades polystyrene faster than expected
October 10, 2019, WHOI News Release
Hanke UM, Ward CP, Reddy CM (2019)
Leveraging Lessons Learned from Black Carbon Research to Study Plastics in the Environment.
Environmental Science & Technology
53:
6599-6600.
Previous years
Zettler, E. R., Mincer, T. J. and Amaral-Zettler, L. A. (2013). Life in the "plastisphere": microbial communities on plastic marine debris.
Environmental Science & Technology
47
, 7137-46, 10.1021/es401288x.
Hirai H, Takada H, Ogata Y, Yamashita R, Mizukawa K, Saha M, Kwan C, Moore C, Gray H, Laursen D, Zettler ER, Farrington JW, Reddy CM, Peacock EE, Ward MW (2011) Organic micropollutants in marine plastics debris from the open ocean and remote and urban beaches.
Mar Pollut Bull
62:
1683-1692.
Moret-Ferguson S, Law KL, Proskurowski G, Murphy EK, Peacock EE, Reddy CM (2010) The size, mass, and composition of plastic debris in the western North Atlantic Ocean.
Mar Pollut Bull
60:
1873-1878.
Law KL, Moret-Ferguson S, Maximenko NA, Proskurowski G, Peacock EE, Hafner J, Reddy CM (2010) Plastic accumulation in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre.
Science
329:
1185-1188.
related
Oceanus
article:
Plastic Particles Permeate the Atlantic
Wilber RJ (1987)
Plastic in the North Atlantic
Oceanus
Fall 1987, pp. 61-68.
Carpenter EJ, Smith KL, Jr. (1972)
Plastics on the Sargasso sea surface
Science
175:
1240-1241.
Carpenter EJ, Anderson SJ, Harvey GR, Miklas HP, Peck BB (1972)
Polystyrene spherules in coastal waters
Science
178:
749-750.